Movement for operating signs, advertising devices, and the like



Sept. 27, 1938.

MOVEMENT FOR OPERATING SIGNS, ADVERTISING DEVICES, AND THE LIKE A. S. WADDINGTON Filed Jan. 12, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A. S. WADDINGTON Filed Jan. l2, 1938 sept. 27, 1938.

MOVEMENT FOR OPERATING SIGNS, ADVERTISING DEVICES, AND THE LIKE Patented Sept. 27, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MOVEMENT FOR OPERATING SIGNS, AD-

VERTISING DEVICES, AND THE LIKE Application January 12, 1938, Serial No. 184,657 In Great Britain August 20, 1937 6 Claims.

This invention relates to a new or improved movement for operating signs, advertising devices and the like, a part or the whole of which is required to move.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a movement which will be simple and so cheap to manufacture that signs and advertising devices having movable parts will be more widely used than has, on account of expense, been the case hitherto.

According to the present invention, the movement consists of a member which is mounted at its end on coaxial pivots so that the member can oscillate as a pendulum about the pivots, and to effect oscillatory movement of this member it is provided with one part of an electromagnet the other part of which is carried by a Xed support carrying also the pivots and the electric magnet is energized by a battery which is carried by and coacts with a member in producing the pendulum action; in addition there is provided a switch mechanism for controlling the circuit of the battery for energizing the electromagnet and this switch mechanism has a part adapted for operation by the member or by some part associated with or moved by it.

The invention is illustrated in one form of construction in the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a front elevation; Figur-e 2 a vertical section and Figures 3 and 4 detail views to a larger scale and at right angles to one another of a movement in accordance with the invention and Figures and 6 are respectively front elevation and end elevation showing a typical sign to 35 which the movement shown in Figures 1-4 can be applied.

Referring to the drawings, I is a strip of electrically insulating material preferably wood, which is carried at its upper end from pivots on a sup- 40 port 2. The pivots consist of a bar 3 secured in the support 2 and coned at its ends as at 4 to receive cupped pivot screws 5 screwed in opposed limbs of a U-shaped metal bracket 6 secured by one of its limbs to a face of the strip I near or at 45 its upper end, the limbs of the bracket 6 straddling the conically ended bar 3; the support bracket 2 is formed of a length of wood or other electrically insulating material.

The strip I is provided with two metal clips 1, 8; the clip 'l is provided to secure to the strip at its lower end the coil 9 of an electro-magnet while the other clip 8, which is secured between the ends of the strip is arranged to enable a single-cell dry battery I9 to be sprung into it. 55 To connect the coil 9 in circuit with the battery II),

one end (shown at II) of the coil 9 is connected to the metal clip and this clip in turn is engaged by the base of the usual metal container of the battery I0, this container forming as is usual one pole of the battery. The other end of the coil 9 is connected by a wire I2 to a pin I3 secured at the upper end of the strip I above its conical pivots and this pin forms one part of a switch, hereinafter referred to. The other part of the switch is connected to the conical pivots 4 and hence to the U-shaped bracket 6 and the base oi this bracket is engaged by the usual top cap I4 of the battery I0 (forming the other pole of the battery). To ensure the base and the top of the battery I0 making firm contact with the coil clip l and with the U-shaped bracket 6, the coil clip I is arranged to be somewhat springy so that when the battery is clipped in position in the clip 8 the coil clip 'I is slightly bent so as to react to make firm contact itself with the base of the battery l0 and to urge the top cap I4 of the battery I0 into rm contact with the U-shaped bracket 6.

The other part of the electromagnet is constituted by an armature consisting of a permanent magnet formed by a cylindrical rod I6 and this rod is secured to a casing Il to which the support 2 is also secured. The rod as shown is secured at one end only to the casing and projects at its free end into the aperture of the coil 9 or to enable the rod to be supported at both ends, the rod may be of composite form, one end being of iron and the other of brass or other nonmagnetic material and the two ends screwed to brackets secured to the casing.

With the parts so far described it will be seen that if the switch referred to is closed and opened in step with oscillation of the strip I about the conically ended pivot bar 3 the strip will be caused to oscillate by the co-operation between the coil 9 and the armature I6. It will be observed that because the strip I carries not only the coil 9 but also the battery I0, the resulting total weight of the strip I and the parts carried by it will enable the assembly to operate as a pendulum: this enables the oscillation of the strip I when once it has been started to be maintained with comparatively little effort and in any case well within the supply capacity of a small standard battery such as that shown. Because the power drawn from this battery is small it will have a comparatively long life and so the cost of maintenance of the device is low.

The desired operation of the switch referred to is eiiected by utilizing the oscillation of the strip Cil I so as to actuate it in such a manner that the switch is closed when the strip I swings in one direction and opened when it swings in the other direction.

The pin I3 already referred to as forming one part of the switch enters with clearance a slot I8 formed between two linger-like parts IS, 2G both secured to a spindle 2I supported in a metal bracket 22 secured to the i'lxed support 2, the spindle 2l being electrically connected to the pivot bar 3 and hence (as already described) to one pole of the battery I0 the other pole being connected to the coil 9. One of the linger-like parts I9 is formed of metal and so by its connection to the spindle 2I is connected in circuit with the battery while the other nger 2li is of electrically insulating material such as libre. Thus, when the strip is swung in one direction, the pin I3 takes up its clearance in the slot I8 and engages say the metal finger Iii forming one wall of the slot I8 and so closes the circuit causing the energization of the coil 9. When the strip I swings in the other direction the pin I3 takes up its clearance in the other direction and so leaves the metallic nger I9 thereby opening the energizing circuit of the coil 9 and moves into engagement with the fibre finger It so maintaining an open circuit. IThe action of making and breaking the circuit of the coil causes the strip I to oscillate.

The connection between the spindle 2| and the U-shaped bracket 6 is eliected through a short length of wire 23 connected at one end to the pivot bar 3 and at the other end secured to a nail or screw 24 constituting a binding post to which can be connected one end oi a coil spring 25 the other end of which is looped and passed over the spindle 2I. This arrangement enables the connections very expeditiously to be changed over to include a second and larger battery external of the strip by arranging on the xed support 2 connections for attachment to the terminals of the other battery, one connection being coiled around the pivot bar 3 and the other passed through and allowed to project above the xed support 2 to constitute a second binding post to which the spring 25 can be attached as an alternative to the iirst binding post.

By the pivotal support described for the strip I, it is possible to tilt the mechanism from the vertical to an appreciable extent without affecting the ability of the strip to swing, this feature being of importance in some aDDlCatOrlS Where it is desirable to arrange the mechanism in a tilted position.

The invention is concerned with the foregoing mechanism rather than with the particular use to which the oscillations of the strip I are put. It will be apparent that there are many such uses; for example the strip I may (as is shown in the drawings) have a block 26 attached to it co-axially with the conical pivots 4 this block projecting through an aperture 2l in the casing Il: this block can be provided with two pins 23 to enter apertures in a block 29 to which the device to be moved is secured, the whole providing a readily detachable connection between the movement in the casing Il and the device to be operated by this movement.

In the arrangement shown the movement is utilized to rock a cardboard cut out 3i) of a human face, this cut out being secured to the block 29. The housing which can be made of cardboard in the form of an open box is secured to the back of a cut out stand or easel structure 3| and the housing can be closed by a lid 32 tted after the housing is secured to the stand or easel 3I, the lid being removable to gain access to the movement inside the housing I'I. Any desired advertising or announcement matter could of course be applied to one or both cut outs the whole forming a device to which attention will be drawn by the moving part. It will be appreciated that other uses may be made of the oscillatory movement of the strip I: for example the strip I could have an arm secured to it and the arm have a pin which carries at its outer end a sign, flag, or other device movable over a fixed card bearing a sign or other device, the sign on the arm thus having an oscillatory movement Which could be used to direct attention to that on the card. Again one of the cupped pivot blocks could be extended to impart angular movement to an arm from which motions are taken by various parts of a device. Moreover, by employing two signs, one connected to some moving part ol the mechanism direct and the other connected through a reversing link or lever system, the two signs can have movements imparted to them in opposite senses. A combination and/or multiplication of these features could be employed.

It will be seen that these movements possess the advantages that in addition to costing little to maintain, they can be produced as units cheaply and in large quantities and readily applied as required to various devices and signs. The movement will thus enable moving signs to be employed without the deterrent of large initial cost and comparatively high maintenance costs and so will enable such signs to be extensively employed at small oost by firms desirous of distributing signs to advertise their goods.

The mechanism described could be made as a self-contained unit arranged to be inserted in diiierent casings designed for Various uses or diiferent forms of sign.

What I claim iszl. In a sign having a moving portion, a mechanism for effecting movement oi' the said portion and comprising a movable part, means supporting the said part for pivotal oscillatory movement, an electro-magnetic device effecting oscillatory movement of the said movable part, an energizing battery for the said electromagnetic device, means securing lthe battery to the said movab v part so that the Weight of the battery assists the movable part to function as a pendulum, a switch mechanism controlling the circuit of the electromagnetic devce, means operating the switch mechanism from the movable part whereby movement of this latter part opens and closes the switch, and connections from the said movable part to the moving portion of the sign.

2. In a sign having a moving portion, a mechanism for effecting movement of the said portion and comprising a movable part, means supporting the said part for pivotal oscillatory movement, an electro-magnetic device including a magnet and a coil, means securing the coil to the movable part, an energizing battery for the coil, means securing the battery to the movable part so that the weight on the battery will coact with the movable member to enable the latter to function as a pendulum, a switch mechanism controlling the circuit of the battery and coil, means operating the switch mechanism from the movable part whereby movement of the part opens and closes the said circuit to cause the movable part in combination with the weight of the said battery to oscillate as a pendulum, and connections from the said movable part to the moving portion of the sign.

3. In a sign having a moving portion, a mechanism for eecting movement of the said portion and comprising a movable part, means supporting the said part for pivotal oscillatory movement, an electro-magnetic device effecting oscillatory movement of the said movable part, an energizing battery for the said electromagnetic device means securing the battery to the said movable part so that the weight of the battery assists the movable part to function as a pendulum, a switch mechanism controlling the circuit of the elecro-magnetic device, the said switch mechanism comprising a jaw member, a pin extending with clearance into the jaw member, means connecting only one side of the jaw member in circuit Wth the one side of the battery and electromagnetic device, means connecting the pin in circuit with the other side of the battery and electromagnetic device, means connected to the movable part and operating to cause the jaw member and pin to have relative movement first in one direction and then in the other, whereby the switch is opened and closed, and connections from the said movable part to the moving portion of the sign.

4. A movement as claimed in claim 3 and in which the pin is carried by the movable part and the jaw member is mounted to rock about a center external of the member.

5. In a sign having a moving portion, a mechanism for effecting movement of said portion and comprising a movable part, a bracket on said part, a bearing member straddled by the said bracket and engaged thereby to support the movable member for oscillatory movement about the bearing member, an electromagnetic device for effecting oscillatory movement of the said movable part, the said device including a coil, a magnet and a battery, a clip securing the battery to the movable part with one pole of the battery in Contact with the bracket, the Weight of said battery coacting with said movable member to enable the latter to function as a pendulum, a second clip securing the coil to the movable part, the said second clip engaging the other pole of the battery and connecting it to one side of the coil, a switch, means connecting the other side of the coil to one side of the switch, means connecting the bracket to the other side of the switch, and means to open and close the switch by movement of the movable part.

6. A movement as claimed in claim 5, and in which the bearing member is provided at each end with one part of a conical bearing and the other part of which is carried by the bracket.

ARTHUR SAMUEL WADDINGTON. 

